


For Survival (think of three things)

by iceyly



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Gen, other characters will be tagged in as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-08-29 05:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16737907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceyly/pseuds/iceyly
Summary: Looking back later, Yusaku will know that there was no way they could have anticipated this turn of events.(Not with the information they had.  Why would any of them have believed in the idea of alternate dimensions without the proof of it staring right at them after all… it’s almost as ridiculous of the idea of an AI with free will had been when Revolver had presented that to him during their first duel.)----The Arc-Vrains AU that nobody asked for in which Academia discovers another Dimension to invade to complete the Arc-Area Project, and Yusaku ends up even more sleep deprived than usual as he and the Kusanagis navigate survival through their destroyed city.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I should be working on my KH stuff, but whelp my hand slipped and here we are. 
> 
> Also, I have absolutely no regrets and absolutely every regret at the same time.
> 
> Welcome to my first VRAINS fic?

The days, weeks, months after the Tower of Hanoi seem to pass slowly. It’s a good kind of slowness Yusaku acknowledges, one that allows him to get used to ‘normal’.

‘Normal’ still means going to school and flying under the radar, means Yusaku ends up manning Café Nagi every other day to allow Kusanagi-san to visit his brother. ‘Normal’ means enduring Shima Naoki’s rants every now and then and maybe nodding at Zaizen Aoi when he passes her in the hallway.

‘Normal’ doesn’t involve hacking of any kind or going into the Vrains.

It doesn’t involve Playmaker.

Looking back later, Yusaku will know that there was no way they could have anticipated this turn of events.

(Not with the information they had.  Why would any of them have believed in the idea of alternate dimensions without the proof of it staring right at them after all… it’s almost as ridiculous of the idea of an AI with free will had been when Revolver had presented that to him during their first duel.)

It’s honestly sheer coincidence that he even carries his deck with him on the day that _they_ arrive.

Shima had kicked up a fuss about his lack of participation in the Duel Club the day before, so Yusaku had packed up his disk and dummy deck to be able to head him off, and after a second hesitation he had also taken the Cyberse deck that he hasn’t really touched since his final duel with Revolver.

Yusaku isn’t sure if it’s the Link Sense that warns him – at that point he hadn’t expected to need that deck, he had no intention to slip into the Vrains; there’s a bounty on Playmaker for one, and Yusaku doesn’t duel for no reason anyway – because he has this notion of _something_ when his fingers brush over the back of his cards.

He hasn’t escaped Shima’s insistent nagging yet when the screaming starts.

Shima steps up to the hallway window to catch a glimpse of what’s going on below, a nasal complaint about the noise half across his lips when he stops dead and pales, stumbling back and almost into Yusaku.

It’s probably another one of the over-the-top reactions that Shima is so prone to, Yusaku thinks and almost just uses this chance to slip away… except that the screaming grows worse.

“C-cards.” Shima stutters while still white as a sheet, pointing at the window. “T-they’re t-turning them into cards!”

And that statement just doesn’t make sense on so many levels that Yusaku steps up himself to take a glance.

Then utterly freezes in place as he watches the chaos on the school’s yard – students and teachers are shouting and running, desperate to get away from the trio of people that look utterly out of place.

#1: Their uniform is wrong for his school – it actually looks like a strange mix between school and military clothing.

#2: The duel disk design they use is odd – the sword-shaped blade of the disk is showing and even from here Yusaku can see that they are using real cards like him, so one would assume that they are old-style disks like his, the last generation that had also generated a blade outside the virtual world… yet…

#3: Despite the chaos going on around them, the panic and the screaming… they are entirely relaxed. Laughing even… as though whatever is happening is nothing more than a game.

Yusaku is almost about to start into action when he witnesses just what exactly Shima was talking about – the way their duel disks shine and suddenly the people that were running just seconds earlier have disappeared.

Something inside him grows cold when he sees how one of the duelists below pulls a card out of a slot of her disk, grinning broadly as she flicks the card to the ground and… her grin widens even more when she catches sight of Yusaku, a manic look in her eyes when she points him out to the rest of her comrades.

Yusaku has already taken a step back from the window – not out of fear, but out of practicality; it’s clear that the strangers are duelists of some kind and if he is to challenge them, he sure doesn’t want to do it with the dummy deck.

He reaches into his school bag to pull out his duel disk and the Cyberse deck, eyes lingering on Cyberse Magician for a second before he slots it into his disk – and entirely ignores Shima, who has sneaked a peak over his shoulder, shouting agitated in his ears (“Eeehh Fujiki, how the hell do you have _Cyberse Wizard?!_ ”).

“Get out of here, Shima,” is all he says before setting his duel disk to his arm and falling into a sprint to intercept that group of duelists.

It doesn’t take him long to find the first of those bastards.

The duel is brutal and lasts longer than Yusaku would like – the fact that it takes place in the real world rather than the Link Vrains had thrown him a little off-balance at first, but he can shove that particular discomfort into the back of his mind.

Then he first takes damage, the physical backlash throwing him nearly through the wall, and Yusaku utterly freezes for a second as he remembers white walls and _pain_ , can’t stop his hands from trembling while he tries to pick himself off the ground.

He is no stranger to exhaustion and the mental strain of dueling in the Link Vrains, but this… the physical threat and pain?

It reminds him too much of the Lost Incident.

(Think of three things, Ryoken’s voice coaxes in his mind, so Yusaku draws in a steadying breath and focuses.

#1: Whoever these people are, they clearly do not value anyone’s life. They are a danger to everyone in this school, to the entire city.

#2: Kusanagi-san is currently at the clinic visiting his brother, and unless Yusaku wins there will be no way to warn him if he doesn’t already know about this situation.

#3: He’s just started on his new path, a new life where the Lost Incident doesn’t define him quite as much as it did before. He isn’t about to give it up to a second-rate duelist.)

The stranger laughs and tilts his head even as Yusaku draws back to his feet – “Got some fight left in you, Link-scum? Fine by me… this hunting game has really been boring so far!” – but his arrogance changes into astonishment, and then panic as Yusaku turns the duel around.

His heart is still beating in his ears when the finishing blow actually throws his opponent right through the wall behind him, but his hands are steady again.

“Whoa, wait– _You_ are Playmaker, Fujiki?!” Shima shouts in his ear again, then complains. “What the hell, there’s no way that a bastard like you–”

But whatever Shima was about to say next is cut off as a bright red light hits him square in the back, and Yusaku’s eyes widen a fraction as his loud classmate disappears before his eyes.

He’s frozen in place again – this just now was different to Zaizen Akira forcing Specter’s virus into himself to rid Playmaker of his doubts, or Go Onizuka losing a fair duel against Revolver.

This isn’t sacrifice. This is slaughter.

The screaming coming from the outside has only grown worse.

Yusaku finally blinks when another of those strange duelists – a girl in a blue uniform, the one that had spotted him earlier from the yard – steps into his path, casually waving a card back and forth like a polaroid picture.

“Unbelievable… I didn’t want to believe the intel, but in this dimension, you’ve really moved duels into the network, eh? Well… I guess that makes my job easier, but honestly, I’m starting to crave a challenge.”

The intent with that she regards Yusaku’s duel disk and his wary stance is unmistakable.

“What did you do to him?” he asks, barely able to keep from shaking with rage.

“Oh, that?” she asks, flicking the card in her hand as she turns it so he can see the picture.

It shows Shima’s expression of utter shock.

“Friend of yours? If you want this to remember him by, you’d have to defeat me first. The again… I’ll just have you join him, when you lose.”

Yusaku readies his disk even as his body screams in protest from the earlier duel, eyes narrow.

“Duel.”

(Ten minutes later, he takes Shima’s card off her unconscious form, staring down at it for a moment before he pockets the card and straightens himself.

He needs to get to Kusanagi-san before this threat reaches him.)

\--- To Be Continued ---


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoichi has taken a step out to talk to the doctors about their opinions – about the idea of taking Jin _home_ – when the call comes.
> 
> He is almost about to dismiss it without a second glance, certain that it’s nothing that can’t be taken care of after he’s returned from the Sanctuary, when he sees the caller ID.
> 
> It’s Yusaku.
> 
> Yusaku, who should be at school.
> 
> Yusaku, who would _never_ call unless it was an emergency.
> 
> \----
> 
> The Arc-Vrains AU that nobody asked for in which Academia discovers another Dimension to invade to complete the Arc-Area Project, and Yusaku ends up even more sleep deprived than usual as he and the Kusanagis navigate survival through their destroyed city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My hand slipped again, so here have even more of this disaster.

It’s been easier since they stopped the Tower of Hanoi. The insistent pressure of the mission, the uncertainty of not knowing the truth… it’s gone now.

Shoichi feels the freedom of it, the same way he knows that Yusaku feels it. His younger partner still sleeps a lot less than he should, still probably suffers those night terrors that lead him to become Playmaker in first place… but they’ve both found some kind of inner peace in the last month.

He is certain that Jin feels it too, because his brother has steadily been getting better – they have been going for walks and while Jin only talks sparely, seemingly preferring to listen… he does talk now.  

It hurts to see him like this as much as it warms Shoichi’s heart because he knows this is improvement but he also knows the bright and cheerful child that Jin once was… before the Lost Incident took that and his innocence from him forever…

Shoichi has taken a step out to talk to the doctors about their opinions – about the idea of taking Jin _home_ – when the call comes.

He is almost about to dismiss it without a second glance, certain that it’s nothing that can’t be taken care of after he’s returned from the Sanctuary, when he sees the caller ID.

It’s Yusaku.

Yusaku, who should be at school.

Yusaku, who would _never_ call unless it was an emergency.

“What’s up?” he asks as he takes the call, forcing a cheer that he doesn’t quite feel – because whatever Yusaku is about to tell him, it can’t be good. (Even that knowledge doesn’t prepare him for–)

“Take your brother and get out of the city as fast as you can!” Yusaku almost shouts from the other side of the connection and– is that screaming in the background? Before Shoichi has any chance to question that or what Yusaku is telling him, he continues: “I don’t have time to explain; but the city is under attack! You need to get–”

Then, the line dies abruptly, and Shoichi is left staring at his cell phone, still frozen when the doctor he’d just spoken to approaches: “Is everything all right, Kusanagi-san? You seem quite pale all of sudden.”

He shakes his head sharply, then turns to the doctor: “Do you have a TV here?”

They do, but it doesn’t help him any – no matter which channel he tries, all the television shows him is snow, and while the doctor murmurs about the strangeness of that, Shoichi knows he can’t waste any more time. Yusaku – for all that he has a sense of humor – would never ever make jokes about a city-wide attack (and he can’t forget about the screaming he’d heard in the background. It makes his heart clench with fear.)

He rushes into the visitor’s room where he’s left Jin, trying to keep his breathing calm as he approaches his brother. “Jin, we need to go. I need you to come with me.”

“Kusanagi-san, have you lost your mind?” the doctor asks – Shoichi hadn’t even noticed him following – “I know we talked about you taking your brother home, but his progress is still fragile! It might be months before we can consider releasing him!”

Shoichi tenses up – torn between snapping at the doctor; that they don’t have time to waste, that there is _someone_ coming for them, and wanting to keep Jin calm and safe as long as possible.

(Would the doctor even believe him? The idea of a city-wide attack seems insane – who would have any interest to attack the very hub of virtual advancement, the pride of Japan – and yet, he can’t let Yusaku’s warning go to waste.

Honestly, he should save as many as he can… but right now all he can think about is Jin.)

Jin, who just stares at him with his wide grey eyes before giving him the faintest hint of a nod and getting up.

“I can’t allow this!” the doctor protests, but Shoichi grabs him by the coat and pulls him close to hiss. “Listen, I wouldn’t do this if I had any other choice. I just got the call; the city is under attack. You should take the patients and get away from here while you still can!”

The doctor is still stunned by the time that Shoichi has grabbed Jin’s hand and managed to coax him out of the room.

Shoichi will never find out if he ever made up his mind on what to do with this information.

It’s too late either way, because by the time that he has managed to get Jin into the truck and the truck is on the streets, Academia has managed to close the roads out of the city – or at least that’s the warning that the very last radio broadcast manages to get through before it dies into static – and Shoichi feels fear nag at his stomach.

The looming figures of giant robots that he has spotted from afar certainly don’t help.

“Nii-san…”

He turns his head sharply after Jin speaks up, sees his brother tense in response.

“It’s all right,” he says, forcing a smile he doesn’t feel. “It’s going to be all right, Jin.”

Jin doesn’t seem all that convinced. “What’s… happening…”

And for all that Shoichi wants to lie… “I don’t know.”

But Yusaku might… or might know more anyway.

They are already trapped anyway, but Yusaku is likely to be in the middle of the fighting already.

One way or another, they’ll be safer if they can join up with him.

“We need to look for a friend of mine. He’s the one who helped me find out about the Lost Incident.” He finally says as he moves the truck from the main street into a side alley, that will hopefully keep them hidden from any patrolling enemies.

He isn’t sure how he feels about Jin and Yusaku meeting… but it is unavoidable now, he thinks as he settles back into his chair in the back of the truck and boots up his computers.

The best way to survive is to find Yusaku, and for that he’ll have to ping the other’s duel disk.

He’s aware of Jin watching over his shoulder as he works his magic, but he ignores him in favor for the task before him. Finally the ping comes back, and shows Yusaku dueling somewhere in the area halfway between the block of his apartment and his school.

For a second, Shoichi is tempted to try pulling up the city’s security feeds to check on him… but whether that would really do any good, when he’s dueling in reality rather than the VRAINS where Shoichi would at least be able to provide some measure of support…

He discards the idea and leans back to shoot Jin a reassuring smile.

“Found him! It’ll probably a bit of a drive to join up with him, but it’ll be worth it. Together we’ll figure out what to do about this enemy.”

Jin nods after a moment of hesitation, before withdrawing into himself as they settle back into the seats up front and Shoichi starts the truck.

(They’ll find Yusaku and figure things out from there, he tells himself. Maybe if he keeps repeating it, he’ll start believing it too.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due the tumblr disaster 2k18 I'm considering moving to either Twitter or Pillowfort. I have accounts for both, but I'm not certain yet where I'll end up taking my ramblings to. For now, I'm mostly putting them on twitter ([iceylyst](https://twitter.com/iceylyst)) though, so yeah. |D

**Author's Note:**

> Notes about the Arc-Vrains AU can be found on my tumblr ([iceboundary](http://iceboundary.tumblr.com))! Feel free to come in and help me world built this insanity some more! :3


End file.
